Baby E 9 month photoshoot // Happy Friday!!

The leaves are a'changing, the fresh air is cooling, windows are opening, crock pot meals are slowly cooking, and the scent of pumpkins and apples are beginning to fill my nose!

Sike.

Hello sunshine. The weekend is upon us! While September has been bringing the above said wondrous delights to our lives the past few years in Georgia, let's just say it will be slightly different this fall. It is South Florida after all. So we can hope and wish for a few cool crisp days, and we can make all the crock pot meals we want, however I'm not so sure we'll see anything but greenery and palm trees surrounding us this fall. And I am okay with that!

It's the freakin' weekend baby. Who cares how hot it is?!

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Let's start the weekend off with a few 9 month photos of my sweet girl, shall we?

Perhaps I should thank the hubby for coming along with me on this little photoshoot to 'roooaaaarrrr' the gummy smiles and baby giggles out of our beauty. Thank you, thank you :)

Look at the way she adores her Daddy -- the looks she gives him while he's holding her! Oh..this could melt my heart. Well, it does!

And a little shot of baby girl with her cousins whom she loves so much :)



Why so serious eh? Oh, maybe because our 'roarer' was not present for this...

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....now back to that weekend thing! I have been 'teaching' Baby E all about the days of the week, trying to get her to join in the excitement with me about Fridays and the weekends!

I think she even loves Florida so much that she begs us to wake up early and catch the sunrise (aka wakes up super early crying). I'm still not sure if I'm happy about this or not, however we have been enjoying some of the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets, so I do have her to thank for that :)

And extra baby cuddles in the early morning are wonderful!

Happy Weekend to all of you :) Hope you enjoy whatever it is that makes you happy on the weekends..and remember, it's all about the little things!

...you know I like my cold beer on a Friday night!

Baby E // 8 & 9 month {photos & favs}

Just another couple of months -- slipping sneakily behind us, leaving a trail of memories and milestones to last a lifetime. Our sweet baby is 10 days away from turning 10 months old. Oh lawdy, let me backtrack here and say that our sweet baby is 9 months and 2.5 weeks old. Sounds much better to  me!

July 13, 2013 -- 8 months
August 13, 2013 -- 9 months

This summer has been full of family, fun, and milestones. Baby E's first summer has been one for the books. And by the pretty little smiles and cheerful little laughs, I'd say she is pretty dang happy to have done all that we have this summer!





Dare I warn you of the photo overload? No, right?! I mean, we are talking 2 months combined into one post here. Keep in mind that these photos and stats are from in between 7-8 months and 8-9 months. Next post (10 month post) will be for 9-10 months. It gets a bit confusing when I'm so far behind here, but better late than never. Right?!

8:

9:

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Shall we get things started with a little 8 and 9 month favorites?!


slipon tom-style shoes // raspberry teether // little swimmers // earth's best pouches // bath time foam letters & numbers // go pod // fisher price walk along stroller // baltic amber teething necklace // happy baby puffs // shopping cart and highchair cover // mini board books


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8 MONTH STATS :: Not sure :( Let's just go with little!

MILESTONES ::

{Walks along furniture} Baby girl will walk holding on to anything, and gets brave once in a while and moves from one piece of furniture to another.



{Speed Racer Crawler} If she hears you coming after her, Girl will crawl away like there is no tomorrow. She's a speedy lil one! And then she turns around and laughs like she just burned ya.



{Says} Dada (all day long), and Mama only once in a while. And when we tickle her and repeat 'tickle, tickle, tickle!', sometimes she does a 'ticka, ticka, ticka' sound.




SLEEPING :: Between 7-8 months, waking up around 7:30am. Sleeps great at night and randomly throughout the day.






EATING :: Nurses about 4-5x a day. All baby food (except for meat).



MISC. ::

{Traveled the state of Florida between 7-8 months} South Florida > Jacksonville > Tampa > Tarpon Springs > Cocoa Beach > South Florida all in one trip with Mommy & Puppy!

Also spent a weekend in The Keys with Mommy, Daddy, Aunt Catherine, Uncle Donnie, and Arianna & Kristina :)

{Celebrated her first 4th of July} We spent the 4th of July down at the condo on Deerfield Beach, watching the fireworks at eye level. Beautiful day!

{First trip to the Zoo} Daddy was away for the month of July and we went to visit him in Jacksonville, so we brought Baby E to the Jax Zoo! First time seeing elephants, zebras, giraffes, and much more!



Yes, that hat has been destroyed by the ocean! But that's okay..I'll take it.

 {LOVES to read} She loves being read to and flipping through books herself. Sometimes she'll crawl to her room and I will peek in on her going through a book, then moving on to the next. Adorable!

{Curious Lil Girl} She people watches like it's her job. Whether looking out the windows or chillin' in the stroller. She's content when there's much to watch!

We love this beautiful girl with all of our hearts! 8 months flew by, especially after a move and traveling so much, but the memories are rackin' up!

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9 MONTH STATS :: 16 lbs, 7 oz (10%) & 29" long (90%)

MILESTONES ::

{ Runs along furniture} She started out cautiously walking along furniture last month, and has progressed to basically running along furniture and in between furniture and from couch to couch. She lunges herself from certain pieces of furniture to another.

{Climbs} I have a picture of it somewhere, but can't find it at the moment! But we sure do have a climber. I've caught her literally hanging, feet off the ground, on a tall nightstand. She will climb to the top of anything that she can -- probably just to scare her momma.

{Still a speed demon} We're just not quick enough sometimes.





{Her first tooth popped through} On August 13, 2013, the day she turned 9 months, her first little bottom tooth popped through her gums. (And another on the top since, but that will be for next month's post since it was in between 9 & 10 months!)

Clearly, I'm slacking, because I still don't have a picture of it :(



{Took A step} Yes, just one, that I've seen at least! She stood on her own and put one foot forward and fell. She is certainly getting braver, though!

SLEEPING :: This gal has decided to start waking up a little earlier each day. Mommy no likey! But I can't complain TOO much, because she does sleep all night, so oh well. And her naps are really hit or miss! We are lucky that she doesn't get really cranky if she doesn't nap as her little car catnaps seem to get her by. Some days I get lucky and get (2) 2 hour naps out of her, though!


So sleepy this night..she fell asleep on the changing table!

Oh, and she has also fallen asleep twice in her high chair. Silly girl!

EATING :: Nurses about 4-5x a day, and eats all fruits and veggies baby food, puffs, cheese curls, wagon wheels, etc. I try over and over to feed her real food, like fruit, veggies, and more recently waffle pieces, muffins, and little pieces of chicken, however we still need to work on the real food thing! We'll get there.



MISC. ::

{Points} Baby E has become quite the E.T. She points at anything and everything, and loves if you point back at her.

{Belly Laughs} She can crack up quite easily and we love getting it out of her! She's pretty good at getting belly laughs out of us herself. While reading 'Baby Cakes' every night, I think we all crack up just because of how funny she thinks it is. Before I even start reading, she sees the book and starts laughing. It's awesome!



{LOVES swimming} This girl has swam more times in the Ocean and pools than some do in their lifetime! She kicks and splashes and gets excited about it all. We love that she loves the water and now it's time to teach her safety! Let's get this girl swimming :)

{Baby proofing like crazy} Cabinets, outlets, central vac sockets, sharp table corners, etc. -- she is into ALL of it! And laughs at everything. Which makes it very hard to tell her no. We're in trouble with this one ;)

...Which is what every woman and man alike tell us when they take one look at our girl.




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It is truly amazing to watch her grow -- to see the changes that occur with each stage as she transitions into a communicative little human. Her personality is shining through and it really has sunk in just how much she has grown. Each night, I hold her a little tighter and tighter and tell my husband just how much I want to remember all these moments of her as a baby while she still is one.

This momma has been blessed with a sweet and loving, sometimes gentle little soul who loves us just as much as we do her.



We have two (very opposite in the looks department) charming, funny, wonderful little bebe's!





It has been 9 1/2 months of the most love we've ever felt as a little family, and God knows the love can only grow from here!



This baby -- this giggly, cuddly, on-the-go, curiously pretty baby -- has been outside of my belly for longer than she was in it now and is showing us all that she has to offer us in this great big world. Which is a WHOLE lotta LOVE -- unconditional love at that!

well, hello florida!

Even the blazing sun causing sweat soaked clothes, sweltering car temperatures, and frizzed-up-like-a-mother hair conditions can't keep us from hatin' on the state we call home. It's more like helllllo glistening waves, swaying palm fronds and fogged up sunglasses -- you are makin' me one happy girl this summer!







One happy busy girl, that is! I'm thankful for how busy I've been with The Barrtique, and grateful to be around family as much as we have been. And blessed to have been able to travel and do all of the wonderful activities we had envisioned when picturing moving back to South Florida for the year. I must apologize for neglecting this beloved blog of mine. Apology accepted?! Please and thank you :) Just look at this face, how could you not accept our apology..

After a summer jam-packed with salty, sandy, sun-kissed skin (that is NOT over yet, my friends!), we officially took the plunge yesterday and reverted our fruit of choice from peaches back to oranges yet again. And by that, I mean we spent a day at the DMV, followed by the tag office to officially become Florida residents again (only $1,017 later...it sure does require a lot to love those oranges) Happy to be back (for now), although I will always have a love for Georgia as it blessed us with our lil peach.



Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in 8 years, we officially live in South Florida again. And we are soaking up the sun every moment we can (while I am not glued to my computer doing work or hubby at work and/or out of town) before we leave again in May. We were long deprived of the misty atmosphere the beach offers, and are now doing our best to make up for lost beach treasures time.





Memories are in the making -- in an abundance too, that's for sure. Baby girl may not remember every salty excursion she encountered this summer, but her mommy and daddy will, and I'm sure she'll hear all about how amazing her first summer was under a canopy of palm trees. Much time spent with family, and cousins making memories together, just like we all used to!







From South Florida, to the Florida Keys, Jacksonville, Tampa, Tarpon Springs, Cocoa Beach, and many days at Deerfield Beach, you can't say we haven't been beachin' and poolin' it to the max. (Did we just go back to Saved By The Bell days?...I think so)



Sister and cousin time has been awesomeee. (Especially when we're at an amazing resort in the Keys. Heck yeaaa!)






Just as you can imagine from us, no matter where we've been or what we've done, we still have not gotten over the fact that we've created this amazing little girl who offers so much joy and love right back at us. She just turned 9 months (and yes, an 8 & 9 month blog post will be making it's way up here shortly..) and lucky for us, she loves all that the beach and water has to offer. Our lil fish, indeed :)



We still can't help but look at her in awe of how wonderful she is to us, and we still thank God each and every day for bringing her to us! This little girl has got Daddy wrapped around her finger, and well, mommy too! Oh, so in love.





We had to spend a month apart this summer, yet somehow managed to pack in all that we have so far in Florida. Seriously, the people may not be the friendliest as many say, but with our family in tow and a beautiful atmosphere, we are loving every moment -- every moment of our year long vacation, as we are calling it.

As you can see, Florida has been treating us well. I may spend hours upon hours upon hours sitting at my desk getting work done, and J may have spent a month away from home in addition to many hours in the hospital, but lawdy, we are makin' it to the beach somehow. We are doing our best to make it worth all $1017 it took to become residents of this beautiful state that we are now calling home again.



Sure do wish you were here!


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...and just a little topping to end a cheerful little post -- our summer according to my phone :)

Baby E {7 months} - a little late!

My baby girl turned 7 months on June 13th.
(So yes, this blog post and the photos that go along with it are really all about her from the day she turned 6 months until she hit 7 months on 6/13 -- we're just a little late, and she has started a whole slew of new things since she hit 7 months on 6/13, but for now -- her 7 month update that should have happened over 2 weeks ago...)

For a 6 1/2 month old baby, she was one busy, busy bee! Our little Georgia peach took the plunge (er, rather, climbed the tree) to become our lil Florida orange! A cross-state move to Florida, shortly followed by her first plane ride up to Ocean City, NJ combined with sun, fun, family, oceans, BBQ's, swimming, sand, and more, this gal has been soaking up the sweet smell of summer time!

 That 'on-a-mission' little smile with the bottom lip sucked in surely sucks me in every time -- it's the cutest, and it's only when she's in deep thought or determined to get something or somewhere. I love it ;)

{The 7 month favorites will be combined next month with 7 & 8 month favs}

I sure do love this little swimmer baby!


7 MONTH STATS ::
Not sure, no doctor visit for 7 months. I'm just going to assume she is still around the 18th percentile! Kapeesh?

MILESTONES ::  

{Officially Crawling} She had been making her way around, via army crawl, getting on all 4's and lashing herself forward, etc. But while on vacation in Ocean City, this girl made some real moves. As in, full on arms and legs going at the same time to make her way around. And from there, whew -- there is no stopping her. She will throw her one leg out to push herself even quicker. The girl is fast and she will follow you ALL around. You can tell she gets proud of herself too! Ha ;)



{Sits up steadily now} She was sitting at around 5 months, but it was sometime in between 6 and 7 months where she started sitting without plopping over after a few, which makes me feel much better! I can now leave her be without being the mom right on top of her and she's good ;)

{Pulls up on things and stands up} Speaks for itself. This started right after officially crawling. She stands in her crib all.the.time. now and momma doesn't really enjoy that during those times when I try to put her down for a nap!

{Babbles Dada} The girl will babble 'dada' like it's her job -- to which I kindly respond with 'what about mama?!'

SLEEPING ::  
Same as last month. In her crib, sleeps in til about 7:30-8ish. One day she slept until 8:45 and you can imagine how much I enjoyed that ;)

EATING ::
She nurses about 5x a day and eats veggies & fruits. She decided to boycott the greens for a little while, but now she's back on track. I've also given her some fruits in her mesh feeder. Yummy!

MISC. ::
{Moved from Middle Georgia to South Florida} J and I have moved entirely too much. Lately, it has been every year. Gotta love the med school life! Grizz has become a pro at moving with us and Baby E did great. Get ready...it will be happening again next May.
Here is she helping Daddy in the garage...love that scrunchy smily face she makes ;)


{First plane ride} To her daddy's favorite place in the world OC :) She went in my belly last year and this was her first time taking in the views and touching the ocean with her toes.

{Celebrated her first Memorial Day} Hopefully she's getting used to how much I love holidays!

{Swam in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and lots of pool time}

This wears her out!

She's spent lots of time with family! Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, you name it! Her daddy has been gone for about 12 hours a day, but we are able to make up for it on the weekends!

And we are a bit sad about him leaving this weekend for a month :(


She still loves her books


And I must say, I officially have had to tell her 'No!' or 'Don't do that!' several times. First time I said it, I paused afterwards thinking 'Whattt? Did I really just have to tell her no already?!' Hard to believe based on this innocent lil face, but baby girl is lovin' getting into things she shouldn't ;) From playing with the outlets, to tearing mail and magazines off shelves and making her biggest messes yet, this momma has got her hands full these days! (And yes, I know it will only get crazier! ha)


Ma, you talkin' about me?!  I certainly couldn't get mad at this face!


This girl loves her Doggy. She now crawls to him and reaches out for him in excitement. I'm not sure he gets very excited, though.


Apparently these two have a love-hate relationship.
She comes to him, he tries to get away. He comes to her, she tries to get away. Typical brother/sister relationship?!

Don't worry, I picked her up right when she started fussing ;)

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Baby E is surely growing up right before our eyes. I may have been slacking on the posts lately, but I'm doing my best to make summer memories and embrace each moment with our baby, while she still is a baby!


This girl makes life wonderful. Waking up to her cuddles every morning is the best start to the day.

She's changing every moment, and no matter how hard I try to make our time together count, it still slips by and leaves me wondering where the first half of her babyhood has gone! I'm cuddling her tightly at night, kissing her baby toes, laughing back harder at each little laugh, and tickling her baby thighs as much as I can, all while trying to let her explore on her own. I'm loving my 7 month old with all I have :)



I sure do love you, little beauty!